Closure
by PheobeColelovers
Summary: No magic involved. Sorry, but it's still a good story. I don't want to give anything away but...they are basically a normal family but even normal families have problems


_Ok so in this story, Cole and Pheobe are married and have two kids. They have never had magic in their lives and the whole witches and demons thing doesn't apply here. Don't let that discourage you from reading the story though. It's kind of sad. Please review and tell me what you think even if you hate it. _

_I'll shut up now._

**Closure**

The couple stood in the kitchen having yet another screaming match. Since the birth of their second child, they had been arguing more than ever. The arrival of their son had made money tighter forcing Cole to work longer hours. This of course put a strain on their marriage. Pheobe was left at home all day with the children without any help and when Cole did get home, he was too tired to help with anything. This argument was the same as the others, with her mad that he didn't spend enough time with the kids.

"Cole, I'm going to stay with my sister tonight. You can take care of the kids for one night. Before you go to work tomorrow, drop Prudence and Potter off at Piper's. She'll watch them until you finish working. After you pick them up, go to the grocery store, and then fix them dinner," the petite brunette woman explained to her husband. "Do you think you can handle that?"

Cole nodded, knowing he had no choice. Pheobe said good-bye to her children, grabbed her bags, said a quick bye to Cole, and headed out the door.

Cole finished feeding their three-year-old daughter, Prudence, and got her ready for bed. He then focused his attention on their five month old son, who was crying in his crib. Once he finally got the baby to sleep, he collapsed on his bed and immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, he struggled to get the kids ready and to their aunt's house. He was late for work, after having to spend half-an-hour looking for Prudence's stuffed bunny, which she refused to leave without. While at work, Cole noticed an officer walk into the building.

He chuckled slightly, thinking that one of his co-workers was about to get in some kind of trouble. The officer walked closer to him and stopped in front of his desk. _"Oh, great_,"Cole thought. "_Just what I need."_

It was then that he noticed the look that the man wore, a look of sympathy and sadness. A wave of fear washed over him, and he found himself paralyzed in the moment. He couldn't breathe, move, even talk, afraid of what had happened. Pictures kept running through his mind. He was scared for his wife and their two children, hoping that all three of them were all right. He knew that they weren't though. The look that the officer wore showed that someone he loved would not be welcoming him when he got home that night.

The officer saw the look of pain in Cole's eyes and knew that he had to tell him. This was the worst part of his job, informing someone that a loved one was no longer alive, and that they would probably never catch the person responsible. He always had to tell the families that they would find the killer, but the truth was that there were just too many out there, way too many murderers, rapist, and robbers to catch. In his heart he hoped to find the person responsible but part of him knew he wouldn't.

"Sir, my name is Detective Grant," the officer started showing his badge to Cole. "I'm from homicide."

"Who?" Cole asked barely above a whisper.

"Excuse me?" Detective Grant asked.

"Who is it?" Cole asked again, his voice almost inaudible.

"I'm so sorry. It's your wife. She was murdered late last night in the park," the detective told him. "She was stabbed."

Cole was unable to say anything, his bottom lip quivering, trying to keep himself from breaking down. He grabbed his jacket and rushed outside to his car, not wanting to cry in front of his co-workers. Once in the car, Cole just sat there, not moving, not saying a word.

So many things were going through his mind. Pictures kept flashing through his mind, horrible

pictures of his wife, screaming, crying, and in pain and he wasn't there to help her. He kept thinking that if he hadn't fought with her, she wouldn't have gone out, and she wouldn't have been in the park that night. If he had just helped out with the kids or just cleaned the living room, she would still be here.

Some time later, Cole started his car and began to drive. Grief had completely taken over. Finding out that his wife was dead was not something he could have ever planned for. He tried to hold back the tears as he drove to pick up his children.

He walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. A woman, with some of the same features his wife had, opened the door. He took a deep breath as he walked inside, hoping that she already knew. He did not want to be the person to tell her that her sister was dead. He just couldn't do it to her. He didn't want to be the one to give her that feeling, the one he was having now. He picked up his children and walked outside without saying a word to their aunt.

On the way home, Prudence talked about her day, telling her father every detail of what they

had done. Cole was trying to hold it together for his children, but every word his daughter said made it harder. She had no idea that her world had just been turned upside-down, no idea that the person she counted on the most was never going to be there for her anymore. Cole knew what it was like to grow up without a mother. He hated that his children were going to have to grow up like that, with that emptiness inside that nothing could get rid of.

When they arrived home, Cole fed the children and put them in bed. He needed time to think about what had happened, to absorb the devastating news he had been given only hours before. He knew he needed to tell his daughter, that he couldn't keep it from her. She was young but she could still since that something was wrong.

Cole sat on their bed and looked around the room they had shared. Their wedding picture sat on the dresser and he couldn't help but remember that day, the day he had promised to love and protect her. He knew he had failed her, that it was his job to protect her and he didn't. He let her go out alone and now she dead. He just couldn't believe she was gone. He sat there for what seemed like hours just staring blankly in front of him, waiting to hear the door open, to see her walk in with that smile she always had, and for hr to tell him that everything was okay. He waitedbut she never came.

At eight in the morning, Cole began to stir from his not-so-pleasant sleep, dried tears still clinging to his face. He sat up and his hope was shredded as he saw that he was alone. He sighed and was forced back into reality, all hope of her coming back lost.

At that moment, a sleepy three-year-old walked into the room, a smile upon her small face. She jumped onto the bed and sat in her father's lap.

"Good morning," Cole said trying to smile.

"Good morning, daddy," the little girl said. "When is mommy coming home?"

This was it. He was going to have to tell her that her mother was dead. He couldn't lie to her about it. That would be even worse, her having to hear about it from someone else. He knew he couldn't keep it to himself any longer, but how was he supposed to explain to his daughter that her mother was never coming home?

Cole told her in the best way that he could, explaining that Pheobe was in a better place with the angels and that she would watch over both Prudence and her brother. Prue tried to listen but with her only being three, she couldn't quite grasp the thought of heaven or death. The child looked up at Cole and he could see Pheobe in her eyes. He knew then that she would never really be gone. She would continue to live on in their children.

He carried the little girl into the kitchen and fixed her breakfast before getting on the phone with the police department and asking for detective Grant. He needed answers. He needed to know who did this to his wife. He knew that he couldn't rest until the monsters that did this were either behind bars or dead. He really didn't care which.

Only minutes later, the detective had arrived. Cole ushered him in and they sat at the kitchen table. Cole had told Prue to go play in her room, not wanting her to hear what they were saying. Cole told detective Grant to tell him everything he knew. He wanted to know everything that had happened. Detective Grant told him about how she had been walking in the park when a man came behind her and stabbed her at least seven times. An autopsy hadn't been done yet, so the number of stab wounds and the time of death hadn't been confirmed yet. They had no suspects yet. A woman walking by had caught a glimpse of the man leaving the scene with blood on his hands and had called the police. She had told them that he was about 6'1, blonde hair, wearing blue jeans and a black shirt. He looked to be about 30 years of age.

Cole had a piece of paper in front of him and was jotting all of this down.

Once the detective was finished, Cole thanked him, and Grant told him that the police were doing everything they could to find her killer. That wasn't enough for Cole though. He escorted the detective out and then started to get his children dressed for today. He packed up some of their things and then put them in the car. He called their aunt and asked if he could bring the kids over to her for the day. Piper had said yes, wanting to be near the only thing she had left of her sister. Cole dropped off the kids and told Prue that he would see her that night. He had some investigating of his own to do. He wasn't going to leave it to the police to find the killer because he knew that he could never count on them. They had never found his mother's killer and he wasn't going to let the person that did this to his wife get away. He wasn't going to let the man that destroyed his life live. He was going to make him pay make him wish that he had never laid a finger on his wife.

Cole followed the leads that had been given to him by the detective. His first stop was the woman who had seen the man leave the scene of the crime. He needed to know everything about that night and if she could help. He drove to the address he had written on a piece of paper and once he had the right address, he rang the doorbell. A young woman answered, probably in her early twenties.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"Last night in the park you saw a man with blood on his clothes. Can I ask you a couple of questions?" Cole asked.

"Are you with the police?" she asked.

"No. She was my wife. I have to find out who he was," Cole explained.

"Sure. Come in, although I doubt I'll be of much help," she said.

"Thank you," he said. "Is there anything about last night that you didn't tell the police, anything that you may have remembered after you talked to them?" Cole asked.

"I'm sorry. No. I told everything I know to the police," the woman said. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I don't know anything else," the woman told him, sympathy in her voice.

"It's okay. Thanks for your time. Here's my number. Please call if you remember anything,"Cole said getting up and walking out the door.

He got into his car and headed over to other leads he had been given, which proved to be no help. No one seemed to know anything about his wife's death, which hurt Cole even more. How could they not hear her? How could they not know that a woman was being stabbed so close to them. How could they not notice where the man was going after he had killed her? His clothes had blood stains all over them and yet no one seemed to notice. No one followed him trying to figure out where the blood had come from?

He headed to the morgue. They had called him minutes before asking him to come in so that he could identify the body. On the way over, he imagined what she looked like, laying there helpless and cold. He didn't want to see her that way. He wanted to remember how she had always been in life, fun, happy, loud. She had the ability to make everything better just by walking into the room.

He was going to have to see what the man had done to her, knowing that if he had only been a better husband, she would still be here with him. If only he could be given a second chance. He would know not to take her for granted. He would live each day as if it were his last, and not miss a moment with her. He knew that there were no second chances when it came to death though, so the only thing he could do was to find the person that did this and to take their life, the way they had taken hers, an eye for an eye.

He took one glance at her and a sharp pain hit his heart. It was too much for him to bear. Her once lifelike body now lay on a gurney in a cold room covered with a white sheet. She was too good for this. She didn't deserve it. If anyone should have went, it was him, after all he was the one who made all of the mistakes. She was the one that held their family together. Without her, he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

After telling the medical examiner that she was indeed his wife, he left the morgue as fast as his legs could take him. He sat in his car, breathing hard, each breath he took made another sharp pain hit his heart. At one point, he thought he was having a heart attack but then realized it was only his heart breaking in two. He sat there for over an hour, knowing that he couldn't drive.

He knew that his children couldn't handle losing two parents so it was best to just take his time and try to calm down.

Before he went to pick up the children, he drove to the police department, hoping that they would have something new on the case. They didn't though. Detective Grant was off on another case. No one was even looking for his wife. It seemed like no one really cared that a woman had died leaving two small children behind without a mother, and a distraught husband who knew nothing about raising children by himself.

As a last plea for help, Cole walked into place that he had passed a million times before, a physic who promised to tell you what you wanted to know stood on the other side of the wall. Cole didn't think that it would hurt. Nothing else was working. He had nothing else to turn to, no one else who could help. Maybe this woman really did know things. Maybe she really could help him. He didn't really know and he honestly didn't care. It would make him feel better to know that he had done absolutely everything he could do to find her killer. With him, he carried a small bag which held the things Pheobe had been carrying when she had died. He turned to the woman who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room reading what looked like a murder novel.

"Can you help me?" Cole asked the woman.

The woman stood up and looked into the sad man's blue eyes, which threatened to unleash another series of tears.

"I'm so sorry about your wife," the woman said as she walked closer to Cole. "I know that you don't believe that I can help you, and that I am your last choice of help but hopefully I will be able to help you. Hand me the bag."

Cole handed her the bag and watched as she carefully held each object, closing her eyes and moving them around in her hands. As she held the remains of the shirt Pheobe had been wearing, the woman's eye's snapped shut and the woman fell back still clinging to the shirt.

Cole immediately rushed to help the woman up.

"What happened?" he asked her as he helped her sit on the couch.

"I just watched your wife die," she told him. "Hand me that piece of paper over there."

"How did you that?" he asked as he handed her the paper and a pen that sat next to it on a table.

"With a premonition," she said as she wrote a few numbers and letters on the page. "Here," she said handing the paper to him. "It's his truck. Run it to the DMV and they'll give you a name."

Cole didn't know what to think about this. A woman claiming to have magical abilities just gave him the lead that he needed to find the man that killed his wife. He still wasn't sure if she had been telling the truth but at least he had some hope now, some reason to keep on going. He hoped that the woman wasn't a fake, that she had really just given him exactly what he needed. He thanked the woman and got into his car.

After calling 411 and figuring out how to get to the DMV, he started to take the ten minute drive that might prove to be the break in the case. He handed the man behind the counter the piece of paper and asked that he please give him the name of the truck's owner. After minutes of pleading, the man finally agreed and walked into a room behind him.

Cole sat in a chair waiting for what seemed like hours. Finally the man returned from the room and called Cole to come see him. He was able to get the name and address of the owner of the truck. It had all seemed too easy, but then he thought that if he had never have taken the risk to go into the psychic's place, then he would have never got the tag for his car. It seemed like someone was helping him, trying to get him to find this man, who he now knew was Jason Miles. He had felt something in his heart that made him walk into the store to see the psychic. He didn't know what it was but it was like someone was telling him to go there.

Cole got into his car and speeded to the address that had just been given to him. He would end this tonight. He wasn't going to let this man live another day. He wouldn't get to go to sleep and wake up to see the sun shining. He didn't deserve to see a sunrise. His wife would never get to see another sunrise so neither would Jason Miles. He walked up the stairs to the house of this man, the truck sitting in the driveway. He knocked on the door just in case the man wasn't alone. He would never hurt any other person. He only believed that Jason Miles deserved to die, nobody else. A man opened the door, looking just like the man the witness had described to the police. He had him. He knew it.

"What do you want?" the man asked seeing the look on Cole's face.

"My wife back!" Cole screamed as he lunged at him.

"What are you talking about?" the man asked.

"You killed her last night in the park," Cole said through clenched teeth.

"Cole," a voice said.

"Pheobe?" Cole asked, his voice breaking, his blue eyes watering.

"Go upstairs," the voice said again.

Cole did as the voice said, convinced that it was his wife. He knew her voice. He had been with her for seven years. There was no way that it was someone else.

He walked up the stairs and walked to the end of the hallway. An opened door led into a blue room with toys everywhere. Cole walked into the room and saw a little boy asleep in his bed. The child was no older that two.

"Don't take his father," the voice said. "He's all he has left. You don't need to avenge me just take care of our children, make sure that they grow up well, and don't let them forget me."

"I won't," Cole said.

"I love you," the female voice called out.

"I love you too," he said, but she was already gone.

Cole left the room and left the house without saying a word to the man. He got into his car and drove over to Piper's house to pick up their children. He wasn't really sure what had just happened, but he knew that it had been her. He was certain. She had told him not to harm the man and he wouldn't go against something she said. He just wanted to do what she had asked him to. He would honor her the way she wanted him to. Everything felt better now. His heart didn't hurt as much as it had and his breathing had slowed down to its normal pace. He had got something that most people didn't get-closure.

_So how was it? I had to write a story for honors lit and this was it and I decided to post it on f.f. and see if anyone liked it. Please tell me if it sucked. I really want to know._


End file.
